Lockdowns Stop Construction to West Virginia Pipeline

Appalachians Against Pipelines reports that after law enforcement managed to evict blockades on Peters’ Mountain, pipeline fighters returned to shut down construction.

MONROE COUNTY, WV — This Monday morning, June 4th, 3 people with Appalachians Against Pipelines prevented construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline for 4 hours by locking themselves to equipment along Route 219. The Mountain Valley Pipeline is slated to run under Route 219, a main thoroughfare for the area; pipeline fighters locked to drilling equipment that will be used to place pipe under the road. Police arrived on the scene shortly after 8AM. Although they repeatedly threatened to use violence (tasers, pepper spray, batons), protesters were extracted without harm by 11AM.

“I’m here to resist the Mountain Valley Pipeline because it represents some of the worst of what humanity can be—sacrificing the well being of communities and ecosystems for short-term corporate profit,” said Lee Stewart of Loudoun County, VA, one of the protesters on site at today’s action. “The fire is catching, and as someone who is from the region, I want to to help spread it however I can. If we stand together and take action, we will stop this pipeline.”

MVP construction crews are currently working on boring underneath Route 219 in preparation to lay pipe that will then travel up the steep and delicate topography of Peters Mountain, gravely endangering regional watersheds, ecology, and local residents. MVP intends to then bore through Peters Mountain, threatening the Appalachian Trail.

Heather Houchins, from Lindside, WV, stated the following in support of today’s construction stoppage: “I am certain we here in Monroe County know how important our water, our land, and our rights are. MVP is threatening to destroy all of this. Through nonviolent direct action, our voices are heard, and we become a force to be respected.”

This action comes two days after law enforcement evicted two aerial blockades on Peters Mountain: a tree sit in Monroe County, WV near the Appalachian Trail that had been up for 95 days, and a skypod in Giles County, VA that succeeded in blocking an MVP access road for 11 days. The action today is a clear sign that resistance to the MVP is growing.